David l



(No Model.)

D.- L. TREXLER.

' BED 'BRAGE. No. 489,347. Patented Jan. 3, 1893.

WITNESSES. INi'ENTOH irromv UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

DAVID L. TREXLER, OF LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS TO B. L. PAYNE, SR, R. L. PAYNE, J R, AND J. B.

SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

BED-BRACE.

:iPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489,347, dated January 3, 1893.

Application filed August 22, 1892. Serial No. 448,787. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID L. TREXLER, of

Lexington, in the county of Davidson and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bed- Braces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in bed braces.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved means for tightening and securing bed frames which can be quickly and easily operated and which is very cheap, simple and durable in construction and composed of a minimum number of parts.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in combinations of parts more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings;-

' Figurel is a top plan View of the invention,

and Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively side elevations showing the parts in different positions.

In the drawings the reference letter Z), indicates the braces from the sides of the bed frame to the center thereof. At their inner ends the braces are secured to the inwardly facing hooks d, on the upper ends of the fingers 6. These fingers of which there are any suitable number, preferably four, are independently pivoted at their lower ends to a nutfso that the upper hooked ends of the fingers can swing toward or from a common center. The nut is fitted on a screw threaded shaft or bolt g, at its upper end jonrnaled to rotate in a plate 71.. The lower end of this bolt is provided with turning means as a thumb piece 2'. The plate I), is provided with a radial slot for each finger through which the fingers project.

When it is desired to attach the tightening device the screw is turned until the nut moves up to the plate which moves the fingers up through the plate almost their full length and permits them to spread outwardly as shown. The braces are then attached to the hooks and the screw is rotated in the opposite direction thereby moving the nut down and the fingers are thus drawn down and their upper ends are forced toward each other by the slots in the plates, thereby tightening the braces. The braces can be tightened to almost any degree by this tightening device. The outer end walls of the slots in the plate are preferably inclined, and the fingers are preferably reduced in thickness from their outer ends toward their inner ends.

It is evident that various slight changes might be made in the forms, constructions and arrangements of the parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, hence I do not wish to limit myself to exactly what is here disclosed.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States ;is

The bed brace fastener composed of the plate having the series of radial slots arranged around its center, the short screw shaft having a thumb piece at its outer end and loosely jonrnaled at its inner end in the center of said plate,the nut on said shaft,and the tapered fingers at their lower ends independently pivoted to said nut and extending up loosely through said slots of the plate and provided with the inwardly facing hooks at their upper ends above the plate, as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID L. TREXLER.

Witnesses:

T. A. BURTON,

W. C. HUNT. 

